One-piece paint brush container



Sept. 19, 1961 .J. c. MCINTOSH 3,000,491

ONE-PIECE PAINT BRUSH CONTAINER Filed Nov. 5, 1958 INVENTOR. JflM'S C. M lA/TOSH United States Patent 3,000,491 ONE-PIECE PAINT BRUSH CONTAINER James C. McIntosh, 29321 Milton Ave., Madison Heights, Mich. Filed Nov. 5, 1958, Ser. No. 771,999 1 Claim. (Cl. 206-15.1)

This invention relates to a one piece paint 'brush container for enclosing a new or used paint brush under wet or dry conditions.

Paint brush containers have been employed heretofore to facilitate enclosing the paint brush to preserve its new condition and other containers have been used for paint brushes to enclose paint brushes after they have been used, however, several devices of the prior art have not proven entirely satisfactory. No combination device or enclosure has been manufactured for preserving the paint brush when new and for maintaining the paint brush in a useable condition after it has been used. v Moreover the devices of the prior art have not proven satisfactory inasmuch as they are complicated in design and construction, expensive to manufacture, and unsatisfactory in use.

With the foregoing in view, the primary object of the invention is to provide a paint brush container for containing the paint brush when new and maintaining the paint brush when used which is simple in design and construction, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to use, and easy to remove and re-apply.

An object of the invention is to provide a paint brush container of one piece construction suitable for manufacture by injection molding of synthetic resin material which is leSs costly than prior art devices as the single piece is easily made.

An object of the invention is to provide a one piece paint brush container which has integral closure means.

An object of the invention is to provide a paint brush container which is shaped to contain the brush so as to hold and form the bristles of the brush in proper alignment.

An object of the invention is to provide a paint brush container which has brush handle gripping means formed integral with the top closure flaps for holding the brush above the bottom of the container.

An object of the invention is to provide a sump area below the normal position of the brush in the container for permitting the paint particles to escape from the brush and collect in the bottom of the container.

An object of the invention is to provide integral securing means for the closure flaps which are not only capable of holding the top closure closed but also capable of urging the resilient holding means into holding contact with the brush handle so as to not only hold the brush in the container but also to hold the container on the brush.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent by reference to the following description of apaint brush container embodying the invention taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the inventive container.

FIG. 2 is a central longitudinal cross-sectional view of the device seen in FIG. 1, slightly enlarged, showing a paint brush contained therein in dotted lines.

FIG. 3 is a partial end elevational view of the top portion of the device as seen in FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of the portion of the device seen in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a reduced face elevational view of the device seen in FIG. 2.

Referring now to the drawing wherein like numerals refer to like and corresponding parts throughout the several views, the paint container disclosed therein to "ice illustrate the invention comprises a case 10 for receiving and holding the bristle end 11, stock 12, and a portion of the handle 13 of a paint brush; the case has integral top flaps 14 and 15 constituting a top closure for the case 10 and for contacting the handle'13 of the brush to hold the brush relative to the case and the case relative to the brush.

More particularly the case 10 has paired end walls 20 and paired side walls 21 which are preferably inclined toward each other downwardly so that the side walls 21 and end walls 20 effect the case tapering downwardly so as to provide a larger area at the top thereof for receiving the paint brush stock 12 and a tapering portion therebelow for receiving the tapering bristles 11. The end Walls 20 and side walls 21 preferably terminate in straight paired side wall portions 22 and straight paired end wall portions 23 adjacent the bottom 24 so as to define a sump area 25 in the case 10 below the bristles 11. V v

The top flaps 14 and 15 are'equipped with mating arcuate areas of lanced or molded fingers 26 which are formed from the strips of material lanced or molded in the flaps 14 and 15 and one flap is equipped with ties 27 and the other flap is equipped with sockets 28 for receiving the ties 27 to effect securing the flaps 14 and 15 in the closed condition, and it is to be noted that the end walls 20 are provided with gable points 29 for contacting the flaps 14 and 15 in the closed condition and the flaps are preferably equipped with flanges 30 overlapping the end wall gable points 29 to effect better sealing.

In operation the brush is inserted in the case 10 with the bristles preferably disposed as illustrated in the drawing, and the flaps are then closed down by placing the ties 27 in the sockets 28 thereby forcing the fingers 26 into resilient contact with the adjacent portion of the brush handle 13 whereby the case becomes physically attached to the brush via the handle 13 and whereby the brush becomes physically attached to the case 10 via the fingers 26 and this is important from the standpoint that the case and brush can be picked up by the handle 13 and also upon setting the case down on the bottom 24 the spring fingers 26 prevent the brush 13 from moving downwardly so as to hold the bristles 11 above the bottom 24 to suspend the brush without the weight on the bristles 11 and also to Provide an accumulation area or sump 25 below the bristles.

In selling new brushes with the container case, it is obvious that the brush is easily removed and examined by the purchaser and it is also obvious that the case will maintain the brush in a new condition until sold.

After the user has purchased the brush and used same, he can re-insert the used brush with the paint residue particles in the bristles 11 in the container 10 and then pour linseed oil, turpentine, or thinner above the bristles 11 so that the brush will be submerged in a softening liquid and also so that this liquid will cause the residual paint particles in the bristles 11 to drop out and fall in the sump area 24 so that the brush is in better condition after a period of storage and immediately after use.

The inventive device is injection molded preferably from polyethylene synthetic resin and it is obvious that the whole case including the flaps 14 and 15, ties 27, the sockets 28, fingers 26 and the reduced cross sectional area between the flaps 14 and 15 and sides 21 can also be molded so as to provide an easily bendable hinge 31.

Although but a single embodiment of the invention has been shown and described in detail, it is obvious that many changes may be made in the size, shape, detail,

3 and arrangement of the various elements of the invention within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A paint brush container for removably enclosing a new or used paintbrush under dry or wet'conditions comprising a case for receiving the bristle end, stock, and a portion of the handle of a paint brush; said case having interconnected side, bottom, and end walls; top cover flaps formed integral with said side walls as upward extensions thereof; the material of said case side walls and flaps being bendable at the juncture of said flaps and side walls constituting a hinge area there between; said flaps being swingable toward one another via said hinge area to form a top closure for said case; said flaps having means for by-passing the projecting handle of a paint brush; and means forsecuring said flaps in the closed condition over the top of said case; the cross-sectional area of the material of said side walls and flaps being reduced along the line of juncture of said flaps and side Walls to provide an easily bendable hinge area along the line of juncture therebetween; said end walls having gable points extending above said case for contacting said flaps in their closed position; said fiaps handle by-passing means comprising opposite area in said I 4 V flaps having resilient fingers bendable by the presence of a handle; said fingers being formed by separating the material of said flaps into parallel strips such as by lancing or molding; said means for securing said flaps comprising extending tabs on one said flap and tab receiving sockets on the other said flaps; said side and end walls converging downwardly toward one another to a point adjacent the end of the bristles; said side and end walls being substantially parallel from a point adjacent the end of the bristles to said bottom wall; said parallel side and end wall area defining a sump area below the bristles for receiving sediment coming from paint residues in a used paint brush.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

